Positioning device



Sept. 16, 1952 A. J. MERLES 2,610,720

POSITIONING DEVICE Filed Oct. 14, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN YEN TOR 7 v7v JfI/V/Wf/FLES,

QM RQMMZ ATTORNEY Sept. 16, 1952 A. J. MERLES ,7

POSITIONING DEVICE Filed Oct. 14, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 nvmvron /7/Vm/NIEFL E15,

Q R W Arm/wry P 1952 A. J. MERLES 2,610,720

POSITIONING DEVICE Filed Oct. 14. 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet .5

Q N QM R Tr M -y p 1952 A. J. MERLES 2,610,720

POSITIONING DEVICE Filed Oct. 14. 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Q mm B WA7'TOR/VEY Sept. 16, 1952 A. J. MERLES I 2,610,720

POSITIONING DEVICE Filed 001:. 14, 1947 5 Sheets-Shed 5 INVENTORPatented Sept. 16, 1952 'r-esirmmezbevien" v '*fintine"KeaiiMeflesfPai-lairaniae- I l-elsgsumag qemu, mnsenel mbv#99104-' l1nFrance-.-April22, 1947 3-1niiims. -(01. fez-Q1 12) The presentinvention relatesfltofi'fitfiesfibr positioning parts that" 15 130 Saw.devicesfiintendd to permit'of bringing'apart 'oir'a systemzmtoi any ofseveral, predeterniin'edj'positions, -reventuei11y modifiable'at"wi11,"'and it? is more "especiallygah though notexclusively;cencemeewitmdevicegor this/kind tenths*control"ofitransmittingibrreeeiving'radio elet'itriofsetsf.

/ Preferred embed! ents ot 'thepresent invention will "behereinaft'er fdeseflhedjwith' referent:e"-fto the accompanying fdramngsrgiven-mere1y"by' wayof example, infwirieh; I I H Fig. I is" adiagrammatic view ofarr apparatus according to the inventionioP'positioning an axis (for instance 'theaizis'ofacdridenser) fhHV-iand corresponding tqza nodmcation. In the followingdesdriptionf"it""wilrb'e fs'ii'p=- posed that 'my' inventibnisflappiiedeto" eeivihg or transmitting"stafion foriadio'eleotric transmission;said i'statijon increa e -e partwr element"sueh'as affondense (-inquet Lcoil, resistor eta)"adaptedta'oec y any. or arrous positions,corresponding for "instant: tir'variou's frequencies. rhedeviceattierdiiigitzr myfixwention is a positioning-devicewhiemenhbleithe op- 5 era-tor to determine the freqnencies 'ofiwhich' hewishe's'totransmitor' te'receive.

It isbf interestdnjmany eas 'siandin partiedlar on aeroplanesqto'make'us e'r su rr positioning deviges, in particul ar ,withafiriewtdenahhngl'the pilot to control the"r21 tiidisetiiif'oniiadist'am'ie.

Various devices of 'thi kind faiready esiis't, some are exclusiveiy orec'trieai'natur" bringing intoplay afifICfiflC tor aridfiilitable 156mtact means. They donbt rov'ide'foramechanh" cal locking of the partorpartstwbeeont fgned in each of then-"w rRinQ pIiSitionS, setnat'tnere isa risk or a'ving this fid'sifioiirtrbdifld}"lhjai' tie ul'ar' duetovibrations. Furthermore if; they ensure lelectrie'a'lcontrol"'froni-afifitancefthef I do" notpermit' manual" control whereasifiiis b! pnet to memes; these an eieetri diagrainwd be -used?oFFigsi-fandfe'aricfeorresporidmg must I denser shaft (or other variableelement) irr both ju'stmeht' withoutbe'mgfnin erewty the e'ieiztri'ctelecont'rpi, .Other devices. are or electromechanicalnane:.

that is'ftosavinclude-entire one handaneiectrie moterrror pbmthigjtheshaft-twee entioned arid'oi'rthe other hand mechanicahpositi parts, in.partieu1ar levers intended to e operat'e with. notches "provided-ipositidningfsectorsor dise'siimouz ted" saidv spaghzsqt itshdiflm be mUh mm'PO fiOn QWfl merely-res abtitnfients anfd stiu'fdo riot--erisu'i'e'a positive lbckifi ibf'said akij sot at n this" ease there'isalso f3t1ki0f1h6fb&fii$ge adjustment under; the Gfi E'QtJOf" vibrationsthermore: the flfact'thatsaid parts work a my-in abutment nkeifashiun"invoive's the-necessity f-of rotating? saidishafc fa "the same dire'tiontobringit:mtmanvpiedetermmed penden It ro nqwsf triatmahua'r ,dofitroi;itwre' hos sib1e;;sho1fldftake piace"tinder ertain onditi'onscompelling-the operator te -ta e speiai precaii yff.

tionsj in; order to' iabtjthfat said operator 1 axis-a1w aye-1n the-same pessibieftqadjqst the circuits. This'resdlts" m thfabt that the:'pbsitims breqe'term d"-by"th positioning V ment pesitionsfihe r fiie thi l. V

fthispurpose-b'e' able to actuate the con drreetionse'since "th positioncer eSpondip to tfining fto' a veir'f requires testing en eit s ee r aidwrung position f' lt i 'orderi to b b qiate thef qmwtseks orthe-'t-rsmfl ems I p'rqcd iin' $11011 amanner; al-eeordingtofii'y'invfltibn';thatpdsitilinihg i bfitaiiidgespiovided for in thesecond of the two cases ab'oy'e eir' airlifted} by nreans offmeehafiiealparts; brie-that .thes'fiai'tsean-prforni a positive leek g er the shaftor other element to be controlled.

hese-eonditionsthe net ed/0rdtl ierf h r d.

tii eiinepei' V v utameeirmm" lie-Same inotonobtained,'-for *fimmricewin1 eit "rof two lowing ways:

. 3 of said parts corresponding to the position that has been chosen.

In the embodiment illustrated by Figs. 4 to 6 the shaft to becontrolled, although it can be driven alternately in one direction orthe other by the motor, remains however stationary owing to the use ofunilateral driving means, during suitable intervals where thepositioning and locking parts or levers are actuated, the final resultbeing the same as above.

The first embodiment, according to which the shaft is driven always inthe same direction by the motor can be used every time the rotation ofthe shaft to be controlled is not mechanically limited. On the contrary,the second one will be preferable when the angular movement of theelement to be controlled is limited by 001415311875 7 tional conditions.

These arrangements will generally permitmanual operation independentlyof the motor and without having to disconnect the parts owing to the useof free wheel clutches or equivalent means. Furthermore, when the shaftto be controlled is driven through a friction device, it will bepossible todrive said shaft manually i one direction or the other. toperform any adjustment. Y.

According to the first embodiment, illustrated by Figs. 1-3, the deviceis intended to position a shaft a us'ed for driving, through anymechanical device (gears, racks, etc) a part such'as a variablecondenser, and adjustable inductance coil, or resistance etc., thisshaft being able to occupy any of a number of positions, say ten. Forthis purpose I'fit on said shaft a, in a manner adjustable at will bythe operator, ten discs A (A1. A2. A10) including each a notch Iintended to permit positive locking engagement with the finger 2 of oneof the locking levers.

To each of these discs: there corresponds a locking lever B (B1, B2,Bio) with a finger 2, this lever being independent and movable about anaxis 1'. Springs 7 (7'1, 7'2 j b) push said levers in the direction thattends to urge fingers 2 towards discs A and also fingers 3, carried by asecond arm of said levers, towards cams D. Finally means such as contactE, inserted in suitable electric circuits, are provided to stop shaft a,when locking has been performed at l, 2.

On another shaft h are mounted ten cams D (D1, D2 D10) correspondingeach to one lever B and one disc A. These cams, rigid with axis h, arepositioned at an angle of 36 from one another and are each provided witha notch intended to cooperate with the corresponding finger 3.

Shafts a and h are driven from a motor M in such manner as to complywith the following conditions:

Shaft h is to be first driven, until cams D have assumed a positioncorresponding to that which is to be imparted to axis a; v Shaft h beingthen stopped, shaft a is started until the tooth l of the disc Acorresponding to said. position comes into locking engagement with thefinger 2 of the corresponding arm, the whole then stopping under theaction of, contact or contacts E. v

For this purpose, I make use of two free wheel clutches 5 and 6 totransmit the movement of the shaftb of motor M respectively to shaft aand to shaft h, these free wheel clutches being mounted in opposeddirections so that only one of the twoshafts can be driven at a time and4 shaft h first (arrows f1 and I: indicate on the drawings the directionof rotation).

When shaft h and its cams have reached their chosen positions, reversingof the rotation of motor M is obtained through any suitable electricalarrangement such as that hereinafter described, in combination with aten positions switch C mounted on shaft h and including ten fixedcontact'studs numbered from one to ten and an insulatingnotch];

On the embodiment illustrated by the drawing, the free wheel clutchesare operated by shaft 2) through endless screws 0, d, cooperating withwheels e, f.

Shaft a is driven through shaft 9 and of a friction clutch 8, which willpermit manual control of said shaft a,therefore of the condenser, 'in'both directions independently of motor M (free wheel 5 permittingmovements in one direction whereas friction clutch 8 works in the otherdirection).

- Saidclutch further permits of absorbing the inertia efiects of themotor. It further permits of operating several devices identical to thatof Figs. 1-3 (therefore several parts controlled by distinct shafts a)from the same motor.

Concerning the electric diagram, it includes (Fig. 3): a control box'(to permit control from a distance), this box comprising one contact K(K1, K2, Km) for each position, and, pref-,

erably, signal'lamps V, which will be for instance all switched on (oroff), except the one that corresponds to the position that is chosen,these signal means permitting supervision from a distance; -areversing'r'elay R1, a stopping relay R2 connected with contact orcontacts E1.

It has been supposed on the drawing that all contacts E are connected inseries, but they could be replaced 'by a single contact which would becut off by a mechanical device operated in response to the engagement ofthe tooth of any lever B into the corresponding notch I. I may alsodispense with stopping relay R2 by providing two contacts E instead ofone under each lever B or two contacts E for thewhole of the levers B,as above stated, one of these two contacts bein anyway intended toreplace those of relay R2. These solutions are given by way of exampleand have no limitative character.

The operation of such a system is as follows:

If it is supposed, for instance, that Kl is closed and that the systemis in position 1 (Fig. 1), it suflices in order automatically to obtainposition 3 to close contact K1, which characterizes this position, whileopening contact K1, that was'closed.

Relay R1 is then supplied with current through the following circuit:contact 3 of switch C, contact K3, relay R1 Relay R1 is operated.

Motor M is applied with current, and turns in thedirection'c'orresponding to the drive of shaft h, i. e. in the directionof arrow f2, so that discs D and switch C'are rotated. This movementgoes on until the insulating notch 1 of said switch comes oppositecontact stud m, which brings relay R1 back to rest position.

During this movement, lever B is first lifted under the action of tooth3'leaving notch 4. It remains in this position, tooth 2 being thereforedisengaged from notch I. The other levers are also lifted as shown byFig. 2'. At the end of this movement, lever B: is in a position suchthat its finger-i is opposite the notch 4 of disc D3, whereas itsfinger} is rubbing on the periphery of the corresponding disc 4%. i

Said motor then starts in the reverse direction since, as all levers Bhave been lifted by cam :13, all contacts E are closed and relay R2 isenergized as above through the contact R1 in position of rest. t

Owing to free wheel clutch 6, cams D and switch C remain in position.Lever B: will therefore be free subsequently to move into lockingposition, since its tooth 3 is opposite the notch 4 of cam D3, and, onthe other hand, cam :r is caused to release all levers B, since shaft uis driven in the reverse direction. Friction couplingq permits themovement to go on, after cam a: has been again stopped at 1/.

As for shaft a, it is itself driven in the reverse direction but withadelay with respect to shaft u, owing to connection IZ-z.

When the notch I of disc A: comes opposite the tooth 2 of lever B3mechanical locking occurs and the cycle is finished: the motor thenstops, owing to the opening of contact Ea produced by lever B3, whichopening brings relay R2 into inoperative position.

Contacts n constitute a safety device since, if locking does not takeplace, for any reason, abutment II will close contacts 11, which willcause a new starting of the motor in the opposed direction, the cyclebeing fully reproduced.

It should be noted that, as in the first case, friction coupling 8 isintended to absorb inertia effects and further permits manual controlindependently of the telecontrol. Furthermore said manual control meanscan be used as well for the marked positions corresponding to cams D asfor any other positions whatever.

In order to work on marked positions the operator is to perform thefollowing operations:

To move the knob which controls shaft u and cam a: in the directionwhich causes levers B to be lifted (supposing that they are lowered);

To move the knob that controls axis h in the direction 1: thatcorresponds to free-Wheel clutch running, until this knob is broughtinto the desired position (1, 2 10).

To move the knob of cam :13 to permit the lowering of levers B, and,

To move the knob controlling shaft a, until locking takes place. I

On the contrary, if the operator is to work on any other position ofshaft a it suffices:

To operate the knob that controls shaft u and cam :c in such manner as,to cause the lifting of all levers B and to keep them lifted;

And, without touching shaft h, to operate the knob that controls shaft awhich is then quite free,

Cam m, in addition to the advantages it has from the point of view ofthis double possibility of manual control, also permits of avoiding anyfalse move that might produce excessive stresses between cams D andlevers B.

I might even eliminate any stress on cams D by having levers B lifted bythe motor through cam :n, owing to a delay in the movement of axis hwith respect to that of axis t and u.

It suffices for this purpose, as shown by Fig. 6, to drive wheel Ithrough a lost motion connection which may be common with that forensuring the drive of shaft 9. This figure shows that disc 2, which isprovided with a slot Z for the passage of finger I2, drives throughintermediate gear I4 the wheel I that carries free wheel clutch 6. r

In this case there is no stress between teeth 3 and notches 4.Furthermore it is possible to lock cams D by means of lever B t n- 7, .7

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description,-disclosedwhat I deem to be practical and efficient embodiments of my invention,it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto asthere might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form ofthe parts without departing from the principle of the presentinventionas comprehended within the scope of the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A device for positioning a shaft in a frame which comprises, incombination, a plurality of juxtaposed discs fixed on said shaftcoaxially therewith, each disc being provided with a radial notch in itsperiphery, said notches being located in different radial planesrespectively with respect to said shaft, a plurality of levers locatedin the planes of said discs respectively and pivoted in said frame aboutan axis parallel to said shaft, each of said levers being provided witha projection adapted to fit into the notch of the corresponding disc,spring means for urging said levers toward said discs respectively, asecond shaft parallel to the first mentioned one, a plurality ofselecting cams fixed on said second shaft, each cam being in the form ofa circular disc with a notch at a point of the circumference thereof,said levers being provided with arms adapted to cooperate with said camsand to engage in the notches thereof respectively, said last mentionednotches being located in different radial planes respectively Withrespect to said second shaft, a third shaft parallel to the two firstmentioned ones, a plurality of lever retracting cams fixed to said thirdshaft adapted to cooperate with said arms, abutment means for limitingthe rotation of said third shaft to two angular positions, one for whichsaid lever retracting cams are in operative position and the other forwhich said last mentioned cams are in inoperative position, a motor,transmission means between said motor and said third shaft for bringingsaid third shaft in the first of said angular positions immediately uponthe starting of said motor, switch means for presetting said selectingcams, transmission means between said motor and said first and secondshafts for successively bringing said second mentioned shaft intotheposition set by said switch means and rotating said first mentionedshaft through its whole angular range of rotation to bring into thenotch of its disc the projection of the lever the-arm of which isopposite the notch of its selecting cam, the transmissionmeans betweenthe motor and the third shaft being arranged to bring said third shaftin said second position thereof immediately before said rotation of thefirst mentioned shaft, and means operative by said levers for stoppingsaid motor after engagement of said last mentioned lever with its disc.

2. A device for positioning a shaft in a frame which comprises, incombination, a plurality of juxtaposed discs fixed on said shaftcoaxially therewith, each disc being provided with a radial notch in itsperiphery, said notches being located in different radial planesrespectively with respect to said shaft, a plurality of levers locatedin the planes of said discs respectively and pivoted in said frame aboutan axis parallel to said shaft, each of said levers being provided witha projection adapted tofit into the notch of the corresponding disc,spring means for urging said levers toward said discs respectively, asecond shaft parin the engaged posiallel to the first mentioned one, aplurality of selecting cams fixed on said second shaft, each cam beingin the form of a circular disc with a notch at a point of thecircumference thereof, said levers being provided with arms adapted tocooperate with said cams and to engage in the notches thereofrespectively, said last mentioned notches being located in differentradial planes respectively with respect to said second shaft, a thirdshaft parallel to the two first mentioned ones, a plurality of leverretracting cams fixed to said third shaft adapted to cooperate with saidarms, an electric motor, transmission means between said motor and saidfirst mentioned shaft including a lost motion connection and a slippingfriction clutch, transmission means between said motor and said secondshaft including a one-way clutch operative for one direction of runningof said motor, transmission means between said motor and said thirdshaft including a slipping friction clutch, abutment means for limitingthe rotation of said third shaft to two angular positions, one for whichsaid lever retracting cams are in operative position and the other forwhich said last mentioned cams are in inoperative position, switchmeans, including a part driven by said second shaft, for operating saidmotor in said direction until said second shaft comes into a givenposition chosen at will, said retracting cam being adapted to come intooperative position immediately upon the starting of the motor in saiddirection, means, including contacts operative by said levers forautomatically running said motor in the opposed direction upon thestopping of its operation in said first mentioned direction, and means,1 including said contacts for automatically stopping said motor when thenotch in one of said discs is engaged by its corresponding lever, thearm of which is located opposite the notch of the corresponding cam.

3. A device according to claim 2 further including contact means carriedby said first mentioned shaft forrepeating the whole operation in caseof failure of the projection of the selected lever to engage in thenotch of its disc.

ANTOINE JEAN; MERLES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

V UNITED STATES PATENTS Numb er

